Medieval banquet to mark 880th anniversary of town’s biggest battle
IT IS Northallerton’s most famous skirmish – the Battle of the Standard, in which English forces repelled the Scottish army of King David I, with the loss or injury of some 12,000 men.
A monument to the battle stands on Cowton Moor, on the fringe of the town, but next month its 880th anniversary will be the subject of a living memorial.
A medieval banquet in the nave of All Saints Parish Church – the only building still standing in Northallerton that bore witness to the battle and its aftermath – will be followed by a “familyfriendly” two-day medieval encampment.
The £30-a-head banquet, on August 22, will include a threecourse meal of meat, fish and vegetable dishes cooked to old recipes, but adjusted for 21st-century palates.
Janet Crampton, one of the organisers, said: “It was a short battle but a turning point in British history and we would like to think that the banquet will fairly faithfully replicate what would have been eaten at the time.”
The camp will be created on the site of the former Allertonshire School in Northallerton, with performers, storytellers, musicians, archers, mock battles and horses.
The battle will also be commemorated by a lecture at Northallerton’s Forum Theatre on allegations of barbarism that surround the battle.
The Scots had intended to take the outnumbered English by surprise, and the 12th-century chronicler, Richard of Hexham, recorded: “In the centre, the king with his knights and English; the rest of the barbarian host poured roaring around them.”